FEATURED ARTISTS

The Grenning Gallery is pleased to announce our 6th Annual Solo Show for Darius Yektai.  Please join us and meet the artist at the Opening Reception, Thursday, July 17th from 6:00 to 7:30 pm at 26 Main Street, Sag Harbor, NY, 11963. The exhibition hangs through Sunday, August 3rd, 2025.

Darius Yektai’s new body of work requires us to take a literal step back; These paintings are large and bold; colors synthesizing an abstract song about nature and emotion. The landscape plays the role of background, rooted in observational elements like branches, willow leaves, mountains, and horizon lines, combined with rich colors and gestural brushwork. Up close, we can investigate his decisions in the artistic process, but from afar, we recognize the prodigious skill of an abstract composer. 

Yektai returns to an iconic subject; He has reignited our passion for the water lily landscape, with these rich, moody, powerful paintings. In Pond, the resin Yektai uses is poured onto the canvas and does not reach the edges; instead, it pools in the center, demonstrating the dramatic effect that the resin has on these paintings. The color appears richer and darker, as if it’s been varnished over. In person, this painting displays the inviting juxtaposition of two surfaces the artist plays in: the wet appearance of reflective resin, and dry, flat linen canvas.

Darius Yektai is delivering unexpected compositions, engaging and sensual surfaces, and creating powerful color pairings. We experience these paintings twice; The first time, as an image, the second, as a tactile surface. Moreover, his paintings often transcend the 2-dimensional plane and lean towards the sculptural. The textures, patterns, and materials in these paintings add so many layers to this work that, even after seeing them a hundred times, we can still notice something new. The generous nature of these paintings is part of what makes collectors of Yektai’s work fall in love with them.

Many of these paintings combine still life and landscape in an exciting and unorthodox style that Yektai has been developing for over 30 years. His thick impasto brushwork facilitates a tension between representation and abstraction. Pink Hydrangeas in a Clay Vase is grounded by the still life in its center; While the table fashioned with canvas strips creates structure and weight, the top half demonstrates Yektai’s affinity for organized chaos, mimicking a shower of leaves, water, and branches, all while withholding the detail we’re looking for. As a result, these paintings captivate our curious gaze as we search for something to hold on to and imagine the movement behind each mark.

In several paintings, Yektai extends the image over the edge and onto the frame; literally coloring outside of the box. This method invites us to reconsider the role of framing; here he demonstrates that even when he’s painting a classical subject - a vase on a table - he won’t be bound by what is traditionally considered the visual container of his image.  This technique extends the image in a daring and physical way. 

Yektai’s unbounded creative process is breathing new life into these textbook subjects. He is prodding the viewer to question their ideas on what a still life is, what a landscape is… that these subjects can instead be tools that plunder your preconceptions instead of reinforcing them. 

In MilkyWay Stargazers, Yektai switches his gaze, from looking down onto bodies of water adorned with waterlilies and willow trees, to looking up at the vast, wide open night sky. Ironically, the artist chose white pebbles to convey the shimmering galactic trail of the Milky Way. Tiny stones that are usually situated on the ground to be stepped upon are instead thrown into the sky. Forms of shooting stars and ambiguous constellations are depicted through cutouts in the base of the “canvas,” which in this case, is cardboard. Two silhouettes stand before the composition, gazing straight ahead at the sky above them. The resin poured atop the cardboard darkens the composition to a rich brown - reflecting the setting of the painting’s environs, including any viewer that comes to greet the painting. 

WhiIe we appreciate Yektai’s naturalist impulse to create landscapes and still life paintings that are inspired by his direct observation, we admire his creative risk-taking even more. Many artists are attracted to finding a lane, where they find their paintings garnering the most success, where the sales are most lucrative, and then stay there.  Darius Yektai, however, finds his path by following his own creative curiosity and dives deeper into that path, regardless of the viewers’ response to the work.  He bravely keeps searching, painting, and collaging with new and found materials as he explores any creative lead. He is game to accept the challenges that come up in his intellectually open and flowing process. As a result, a visit to his studio is always packed with surprises, even for us, who visit every few weeks!

The Grenning Gallery is pleased to announce our Annual Solo Show for Hunt Slonem!  Please join us and meet the artist at the Opening Reception, Thursday, June 19th from 6:00 to 7:30 pm at 26 Main Street, Sag Harbor, NY, 11963. 

The exhibition hangs through Sunday, July 13th, 2025. There will be a Closing Party on July 12, from 5:00 to 7:00pm. The Grenning Gallery will have Slonem works on display and available for viewing all year round.

The Grenning Gallery was founded to represent painters with a naturalist impulse.  Hunt Slonem despite his distinct style with bold colors and thick brushwork, is no exception. Slonem’s work stands out to us for its spiritual inspiration and steadfast aesthetic. His work is not only grounded in a deep respect and awe of nature, but the man himself is a deeply spiritual person; His artwork is an expression of the life he leads. Slonem nurtures a mystical connection with all that he loves, thus his process of art-making is a ritual in and of itself.

In this year’s show, we have selected a series of wide ranging subjects, yet they are linked by their sensitivity to color and light. His paintings, while they appear simple in subject, are charged with the artist’ joy, love, and pure fascination. The result of this artistic process is paintings that infuse a room with vibrant, positive energy.

In Slonem’s larger works, the populated space of his paintings is both maximalist and minimalist. His iconic repetition birds,  bunnies, and butterflies, often transcends ordinary subjects and transforms into a mesmerizing pattern. By filling a canvas with the same subject in this repetitious way, Slonem’s paintings become a mantra – quieting the senses, captivating the viewer with rich flora and fauna. These paintings are puzzles we can’t help but try to figure out. This approach to his subjects, combined with his many processes of handling the paint, results in truly hypnotic compositions, both aesthetically pleasing and critically engaging.

Hunt Slonem remains nature’s devotee when it comes to the subjects of his paintings. His loyalty to his birds, bunnies, and butterflies give us insight into the mind of the artist, his message, and his process. Playful, joyous, even childlike on the surface, these paintings are warm and welcoming. However, when we look closely and consider why he chooses these animals, we find a profound underpinning to his work. 

The rabbit is a timeless symbol of purity, innocence, and vulnerability. The bird represents freedom and hope, and the butterfly, of course, symbolizes transformation and rebirth. These symbols are so pure they need not be tainted nor obscured; His pop-art adjacent style showcases this message with concise clarity. Such simplicity evokes a natural, instinctual skepticism from viewers, effectively grasping our attention with its boldness. A simple realist painting of a rabbit may not hold the contemporary viewer for very long, but Hunt Slonem’s work is challenging the modern instinct to overlook the natural environment. Instead, he invites us to look deeper.

 During his time studying abroad in tropical climates such as Mexico and Nicaragua, he recalls a single moment when he was in a jungle surrounded by butterflies;

“…Each more iridescent and gorgeous than the next. The memory stayed with me for my whole life, and I just painted them over and over again…Hardly a day goes by that I don’t reference this experience.” explained Slonem.

Hunt Slonem’s dedication to recalling and representing the energy of these experiences is what makes his work so enchanting. Laura Grenning, the founder of Grenning Gallery, has always had an animist understanding of all paintings, since the inception of the gallery in 1998. Grenning believes that the viewer’s feelings when looking at a painting are akin to the feelings that the painter had when they were creating it. In the context of Hunt Slonem, we recognize the pure joy and connection that he channels during his creative process, and that by returning to these familiar subjects, he is also returning to those profound memories of his youth. Slonem’s spirituality is imbued into each of his paintings, and in kind, these paintings reward the viewer in unexpected and deeply moving ways.

This explains why many collectors of Slonem’s paintings often come back for more after buying just one small bunny. Demand for his work remains strong after over 40 years of showing. Slonem’s paintings can be found in over 250 museums around the world, and he is represented in over 80 galleries globally. The unapologetic and infectious joy from these paintings is something we just can’t take our eyes off of. 

Please join us in celebrating the Grenning Gallery's 28th Year in Business!

This summer's events calendar is full of exciting events, including Opening Receptions, Studio Visits, Closing Parties, Art Fairs, and more.

Please note that our Opening Receptions will be held on THURSDAYS this Summer!

JUNE

 Hunt Slonem Solo Show

Opening Reception: Thursday, June 19th, 6:00pm-7:30pm@ Grenning Gallery, 26 Main St, Sag HarborThe exhibition is on view June 19th, 2025 - July 13th, 2025

JULY

Hampton's Fine Art Fair

July 10th - 13th, 12:00pm-6:00pm @ Southampton Fairgrounds, 605 County Road 39, Southampton, NYSpecial appearance by Hunt Slonem for a book signing, Friday, July 11th at 4:00pmTo secure your ticket, call us at the gallery 631-725-8469 or email info@grenninggallery.com

Closing Party: Hunt Slonem Solo Sow

Saturday, July 12th from 5:00pm-7:00pm@ Grenning Gallery, 26 Main St, Sag HarborDrinks, hor d'oeuvres, and live music to celebrate the end of Hunt Slonem's Solo Show

Darius Yektai Solo Show

Opening Reception: Thursday, July 17th, 6:00pm - 7:30pm@ Grenning Gallery, 26 Main St, Sag HarborThe exhibition is open July 17th, 2025 - August 3rd, 2025

AUGUST

Summer Group Show: Steven Levin, Anthony Mastromatteo, Doug Reina & introducing Gene Johnson

VIP COCKTAIL PARTY - Invite Only

Thursday, August 7th from 6:00pm-8:00pmSpecial VIP preview of our Summer Group Show, with artists Tony Mastromatteo, Doug Reina, Steven Levin, and new artist Gene Johnson. This event is private invitation only.

Opening Reception: Friday, August 8th, 6:00pm - 7:30pm

@ Grenning Gallery, 26 Main St, Sag HarborThe exhibition is open August 8th, 2025 - August 24th, 2025

Ben Fenske Solo Show

Opening Reception: Thursday, August 28th, 6:00pm - 7:30pm@ Grenning Gallery, 26 Main St, Sag HarborThe exhibition is open August 28th, 2025 - September 14th, 2025